Darkness Calls
by missminxie78
Summary: Zaskia O'Loughlin has moved to Santa Carla, wanting to start over after a life changing tragedy. When her life takes another unexpected dramatic turn, she meets David and The Lost Boys, but something is different about them. Zaskia isn't sure who she can trust anymore so will she be able to trust them?
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHORS NOTE:** I published this story almost 9 years ago, though it was never completed. As my craft has improved since then, this is a refreshed look at something I wrote so long ago. Hope you enjoy!

Zaskia O'Loughlin made herself comfortable on the old couch that sat on the sundeck, curling her legs underneath her. She stared out at the afternoon sky, hues of orange and yellow stretching across as the sun began its descent towards the horizon. She sat silently next to her best friend, Sophie Crandell, and sipped gently at her coffee.

"I miss them, Soph."

Sophie put a hand on Zaskia's. "I know. It will get easier, I promise."

It had been three months since they had moved to Santa Carla. Sophie had suggested it, thinking it would be good for Zaskia to get away from the bad memories in San Jose. They'd found a nice little three-bedroom house only five minutes from the boardwalk. Zaskia had been hesitant at first, though she loved the vibrancy of the place; there was always something going on, whether it was bonfires on the beach, concerts on the boardwalk or hoons nicking merchandise from stores and being chased through town. She'd heard people say that Santa Carla was the 'murder capital of the world', which made her laugh. A little coastal town like Santa Carla? Surely it was a tourism ploy!

Connor Richards wandered out onto the porch and plonked onto the couch on the other side of Zaskia. He nuzzled her neck, planting a few kisses on it.

"You OK babe?"

"Yeah. Just having a down day."

Connor stroked her cheek. "We'll get through this."

Zaskia smiled at him. "I know."

Sophie squeezed her arm as if to cement Connor's words.

Zaskia put her coffee mug on the table, a thought hitting her then. "Oh crap! What time is it?"

"Ten to four," Connor said.

"Shit! I start at four!" Zaskia jumped up. She ran like a mad woman through the house and quickly threw on something to wear for work. Eventually, she decided on her floor length, emerald-green dress that was a soft velvet which she then accessorised with an emerald-green choker and earrings that picked up the green in her eyes. She grabbed her hair and pulled it back into a sleek ponytail. Feeling a headache coming on, most likely due to lack of sleep and hydration, she quickly downed two painkillers.

"Alright guys, gotta fly!" Zaskia called as she passed Connor & Sophie making a snack in the kitchen. Sophie waved and Connor ran after her.

"Hey, where's my goodbye!" he said, pulling her in for a lingering kiss.

"Babe, I've gotta go! I might be a little late coming home," Zaskia said. "We just a received a huge shipment of new stuff and we don't get much of an opportunity during the day to unpack it all."

"No worries. I'm making baked macaroni & cheese, so I'll save some for you."

"Yum! Thanks. Love you!" She kissed him again, then ran out the door.

Fortunately, she didn't have to go very far, given the boardwalk was five minutes away. Santa Carla was always busy, no matter what time of day so she wasn't surprised the _Enchanted Forest_ was crowded when she walked in. It was a Middle-Eastern-influenced store full of incense, unusual ornaments, jewellery and knick-knacks. Zaskia waved to Karli, who'd just had a pile of clothes dumped on her by a customer who appeared to have tried on half the shop. Karli rolled her eyes. Zaskia giggled. It happened a lot. Zaskia quickly dumped her bag out the back before jumping behind the counter to assist a customer.

By seven o'clock, things had settled down; Zaskia and Karli now sitting on the floor at the rear of the store, unpacking small boxes of ornaments.

"You know, the problem with working in this place is that I spend way too much money," she told Karli. "I mean, yes at a discounted rate, but my wardrobe & ornament collection has doubled over the past few months, yet strangely my savings have halved!"

Karli laughed. "Story of my life."

As she was unpacking one of the boxes, Zaskia found a small pack of tiger lily ornaments with pretty pink jewels on them. She smiled, remembering a time before she'd really known Sophie that she'd given her a bunch of tiger lilies as a present when one of her many boyfriends had dumped her over text. Sophie told Zaskia that she would love tiger lilies forever and it was now their friendship flower. Zaskia kept one aside, and would take it home for Sophie tonight as a surprise.

"Ungh, I wish this headache would go away," Zaskia growled, rubbing her forehead. "I feel worse than when I left home."

"Do you want some painkillers?" Karli asked.

"I took a couple before I left. Probably need to wait a bit longer. It's just making my eyes heavy. I hope I'm not getting a migraine."

"They're the worst."

"I know."

Their manager, Arielle, overheard the conversation and walked over to the two. "Why don't you go home sweetie?"

"Thanks, Arielle. I'll try and push through. There's a lot of stock to unpack."

"We've got it covered. It's OK. Go home."

Zaskia looked over at Karli. "Will you be OK?"

"I'll be fine. Just go home and get some rest."

Zaskia smiled. "Thanks guys. I'll see you tomorrow." Zaskia grabbed her bag, paid for the tiger lily and headed out.

"Take care OK?" Karli called after her.

"I will!" she called back.

As Zaskia ambled through the mob of people swarming along the boardwalk, a familiar sound of roaring engines came from behind her. She turned to see the usual gang of youths on their motorbikes, whooping and yahooing, and generally trying to stir up the crowd. She smiled, thinking that they weren't doing any real harm; just trying to get a reaction.

Zaskia was grateful when she was finally able put her key in her front door. The five-minute walk had felt so much longer with her headache taking hold. As she closed the front door behind her, she noticed that the house was unusually quiet. A few lights were on, but there was basically silence. There was no music playing or TV blaring. Zaskia poked her head into the lounge room. Plates, forks and knives scattered the coffee table. It was unlike Sophie to leave a mess. Zaskia's heart began to pound a little, which seemed to keep time with the pound in her head. She clutched the tiger lily in her hand as though for protection and peeked around the corner to her room.

It was empty.

Heading down the hall, she could hear faint noises coming from Sophie's room.

'Santa Carla is the murder capital of the world' ran through her head then, which did nothing to allay her nerves

The door to Sophie's room was ajar, so Zaskia pushed it open carefully and froze.


	2. Chapter 2

Zaskia's mouth dropped, as her hand that held the tiger lily let go. It hit the wooden floor with a crash, shattering pieces everywhere, startling the treacherous couple. Realising they had been caught, the two madly scrambled to cover themselves.

"Zaskia…" Connor began.

Zaskia managed to find her feet and ran into her room, locking the door and leant against it. Her eyes brimmed with tears, a mix of emotion welling within her. As the first tear found its way down her cheek, she sank to the floor.

"Zaskia baby, I can explain!" Connor slurred through the door.

"There's nothing to explain, Connor! It's quite self-explanatory!"

She couldn't stay there another moment. She quickly changed into a pair of black jeans, her favourite black t-shirt and boots. Sophie tried to appeal to her through the door.

"Zaskia…I'm really sorry," Sophie said, sounding even more drunk than Connor.

"Sorry you did it, or sorry I caught you?" Zaskia flung open the door, causing Sophie to flinch. She glared at her so-called best friend then over at her traitorous boyfriend. His eyes would not meet hers. She shoved past them, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

Sophie grabbed Zaskia's arm. "Zaskia wait…"

Something inside her snapped then and she spun around, pinning Sophie to the wall with her arm. "Don't. Touch. Me."

A small sound of shock escaped Connor. Zaskia looked over at him, daring him to say something, before storming out of the house. She took her motorbike, affectionately called _Gypsy_ , out of the garage, throwing her leg over as she started her up and sped off.

As she tore through the streets and alleyways of suburban Santa Carla, Zaskia could feel the emotion rising in her. So much of her just wanted to drive off the bluff at that point. She finally stopped at a quiet spot along the boardwalk and cut the engine, trying to process what had just happened. Feeling the bile rise within, she leant over the side of the bike and threw up. Twice.

Righting herself, her breathing still heavy, Zaskia leant forward onto the handlebars and sobbed. How could they have done this to her? She'd been so happy with Connor and thought he'd had been happy with her. Now she had no parents. No best friend. No boyfriend. No one.

She raised her head, wiping away tears haphazardly. "I will not give them any more of my tears. They don't deserve it," she told the inky darkness.

"I think that's a good plan," a gravelly voice said from behind her. Zaskia whipped her head around to find a man dressed in all black and a long black trench coat that almost touched the ground, his hair a bright shade of platinum, almost white. She recognised him as one of the youths that frequented the boardwalk on their motorbikes.

"Excuse me?"

"I agree with you. They don't deserve any more of your tears."

"Are you in the habit of just randomly interrupting people's thoughts?"

"Wasn't a thought. You said it out loud."

"That's…who are you?"

"I'm going to take a wild stab and say your boyfriend. Maybe your best friend? Or is it both?"

Zaskia shifted. "Have you been following me?"

The man smirked. "Yes."

"OK, I need to go. Leave me alone."

"Aren't you going to ask why?"

"Why what?"

"Why I've been following you?"

"I don't care. Just stay away from me. I'm not in the mood for stupid games." Zaskia turned the key in her ignition and started the bike.

"I've been wanting to meet you, Zaskia."

"How the hell do you know my name?"

"I've done my homework. You intrigue me. I'm drawn to intriguing people."

"OK, that's all sorts of weird. Seriously, just leave me alone, OK? I've had a rough night and I'm not in the mood to be toyed with, so go be intrigued by someone else."

"Well, you're no fun."

"You know what? You're right. Tonight, I am _not_ fun. I left work early because I had a goddamn headache, and what do I get home to find? My boyfriend and my best friend in bed together. So, no, creepy-blonde-guy-who's-been-following-me-around-wanting-to-meet-me, I'm not fun tonight."

Zaskia revved her engine to go when the man was suddenly behind her, his mouth close to her ear. "This isn't the first time they've done this to you."

She turned her head to look at him, noticing his eyes were almost entirely black. The hairs on her neck stood up a little at his sudden proximity. "How the hell do you know that?"

"I told you. I've been watching you." He took a few steps back and rested on the handlebars of her bike.

"Seriously, can we cut all this cat and mouse bullshit and you just tell me what the hell you want! You seem to know all this stuff about me and I don't why. Hell, I don't even know your name."

"It's David."

"Good, that's a start. So _David,_ tell me what you want with me?"

"Come with me, and I'll show you."

Zaskia snorted. "Oh yeah. Sure. OK, no worries. How stupid do you think I am? You think I'm just going to go with you? How do I know you're not going to chop me up into little pieces?" She knew the last bit was a tad extreme, but after all, Santa Carla _was_ the murder capital of the world, wasn't it?

David chortled. "Zaskia, if I wanted to hurt you like that, I could've done it before tonight or even whilst we've been standing here talking. That's not my intention. Besides, aren't you a little curious?"

Zaskia took a deep breath. She eyed David with scepticism, but something told her, he wasn't going to hurt her. He did have a point – he could've done it already. A part of her _was_ curious as to what he wanted, and given her current state of affairs, if he did chop her up into pieces, no one would miss her anyway. "Fine. Let's go."

"We'll take my bike."

Zaskia shook her head. "Oh no. I'm not leaving her here. Someone will steal it for sure!"

He showed her to a large surround of shrubbery, and to Zaskia's surprise, it kept the bike well hidden. She did have an immobiliser on the engine, so it would be hard to steal anyway. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she climbed onto David's bike, the bravado of adrenalin wearing off. She grabbed his waist as he abruptly sped off along the boardwalk, weaving in and out of the crowd expertly. Zaskia closed her eyes and tried to relax. She loved the feeling of being on a motorbike, the wind whipping her hair and rushing past her face. Being a passenger, she didn't have to concentrate on the road, so was able to enjoy the feeling of freedom and speed, as though nothing else in the world mattered. David took a sharp turn onto Santa Carla beach then, heading toward a group of what looked like three boys sitting around a fire drum. Obviously, these must've been the others that he was often seen with on the boardwalk.

"Boys, this is Zaskia," David said as he cut the engine and jumped off the bike. "She's going to be hanging out with us for a while."

"She is?" Zaskia queried. "It's the first Zaskia is hearing about it because she still doesn't know what the hell is going on!"

"You'll find out soon enough. That's Dwayne, Marko & Paul," he said, gesturing to each as he spoke.

Zaskia raised her hand in a resigned hello as the boys nodded their respective hellos.

The one called Dwayne gave David a signal then and David shook his head. Zaskia looked at them strangely, wondering what that had meant.

"Alright boys, lets ride!" David announced, getting back on his bike and motioning to Zaskia to join him. The others hopped on their bikes and they all sped off back towards the boardwalk.


	3. Chapter 3

It was three o'clock in the morning when Zaskia returned home. It had been a very strange night and she was still none the wiser as to why David wanted her with them. They'd mostly just spent time laughing and drinking beers. At that moment though, she was too tired to care and would try and make sense of it tomorrow. David wanted to see her again the next night and Zaskia had told him she would think about it.

She parked _Gypsy_ back in the garage and let herself silently into the house, thinking that if Connor knew what was good for him, he'd be on the couch. Zaskia found him fast asleep in an awkward position on the couch. He'd probably been waiting up for her.

Wandering into the bedroom, Zaskia stripped and flopped into bed exhausted, though her mind was still racing. So much on her mind; so many questions unanswered. Eventually, she finally succumbed to sleep.

When she woke later that morning, it felt as though she'd only been asleep for half an hour. She looked over at her clock. 10am. _Five more minutes,_ she told herself. Despite her tiredness, she eventually got up and dragged herself toward the bathroom. As she wandered down the hallway, she heard the hushed tones of Connor and Sophie fighting in the kitchen. Zaskia pressed herself against the wall and listened quietly.

"I told you we should've said something! Now look what's happened?" Sophie was saying.

"Well, I wasn't expecting her to come home early? As far as we knew, she was working late!" Connor protested back.

Zaskia couldn't believe her ears! It sounded as though something _had_ been going on previously, which meant David had told her the truth. How had he known? Zaskia walked past the kitchen, the two markedly silent as they noticed her presence. She glared at them briefly and kept walking. Neither of them came after her or tried to call out to her, which was just as well as she didn't want to talk to either of them anyway.

As the hot water cascaded over her, Zaskia closed her eyes and let the warmth envelop and soothe her body. All too soon, the water started to go cold, so she begrudgingly had to jump out. On the way out, she caught Connor's eye, who looked shamefully at her. Zaskia's lip trembled as she tried to blink back tears. Without a word, she turned and headed out the door.

Meandering along the boardwalk in the sun had a wonderful healing effect on Zaskia. Her stomach had unclenched and her body was slowly relaxing. Unwittingly, she found herself looking out for David and the boys, but they were nowhere to be seen. She bought herself a cup of frozen yoghurt and made herself comfortable at one of the tables overlooking the beach. It was only two thirty which meant she had an hour and a half to kill before work started. Santa Carla was crawling with tourists and weirdos so was always great for people watching. One guy walked past who looked like he had an enormous blonde sea urchin protruding from his head. Zaskia snickered. A girl walked past wearing a similar style of fashion to hers, which made her smile. The gypsy top she was wearing bared her midriff, showing off her belly ring. It was a silver bar with a small purple jewel at the top and a larger one at the bottom.

After little deliberation, she decided she would get her belly pierced too. Wandering into the piercing store, Zaskia spoke to the girl at the counter and she said that they could pierce it for her today, but there were a couple of people in front of her. She was happy to wait so she looked at the jewellery to find one that she liked. The piece she decided on was the same as the girl's she had seen, except instead of the purple stones, she chose emerald green. When it was her turn, Zaskia collected all her strength and grit her teeth as the girl pierced her navel. She looked in the mirror to admire her purchase and was happy with what she saw. Zaskia walked out of the store and onto the boardwalk to see the sun going down. She glanced at her watch, noticing it was a quarter to four - that was good timing! She kept looking down at her belly, fascinated with her new piercing, the green stones standing out nicely against her pale skin.

When Zaskia walked into work, Karli rushed up to her, noticing her belly ring.

"Wow, that looks great! Did you just get that done?"

Zaskia nodded, beaming.

"Cool! We have heaps here so I'm sure you can find a few you like!"

"Oh great, more money! Like I don't spend enough!"

A few customers were milling around the store, but it wasn't as busy as usual, so Arielle, Zaskia and Karli stood around talking and checking out the belly ring jewellery. A girl approached the counter then so Zaskia jumped in to help her.

"How are you going today?" Zaskia asked her.

The girl smiled. "Great! This store rocks man! I came in to buy a present, but I had such a hard time picking only a few things!"

"I know how that is!" Zaskia laughed.

"Oh, hang on a sec, I just saw something else!" The girl ran off while Zaskia started wrapping her things in nice purple tissue, making sure to take the prices off. The girl ran back to the counter, almost out of breath.

"Wow, this is beautiful. Piper loves these, I'm so glad I saw it!"

Zaskia looked down at the last minute trinket, her smile fading instantly. Of all things the girl could've picked, she'd chosen the tiger lily. Zaskia's stomach lurched, all the memories of the past 24 hours flooding back to her.

"Did I say something wrong?" the girl asked.

Zaskia's eyes were fixed to the tiger lily, doing her best to fight back tears. "I'm sorry, excuse me," she managed and ran out the back, Karli running after her. Arielle jumped in and finished the sale, apologising profusely to the poor girl.

"Zaskia, what's wrong?" Karli asked, helping her sit and put an arm around her. Between sobs, she managed to tell Karli the whole sordid story. Arielle, finished with serving the customer, joined them out the back.

"Zaskia? What happened? Are you OK?"

Zaskia looked up at her with a tear-stained face and shook her head. "Yesterday, I bought Sophie the same tiger lily as a surprise because it's our friendship flower and she's been a great support to me lately and was just my way of saying thank you. When I got home after leaving early last night, I found Connor and Sophie in bed together. And now, I just don't know what to do. I feel so lost."

"Oh, Zaskia, I'm so sorry sweetie. That's an awful thing to have happen to you. What is _wrong_ with people?"

"The two people I care about most in the world have just betrayed me in the biggest way possible."

"Assholes. If you need a place to stay, you can stay with me."

"Thank you. I appreciate that. I know I'll have to move out. I was just getting settled. I still can't believe the whole thing."

"Well take a few minutes, and come out when you're ready."

After a few deep breaths and throwing some water on her face, she made her way back out to the floor.

A few hours later, Zaskia was fixing the display under the counter. When she stood up, she came face to face with a familiar smirk.

"Oh geez, David, you scared me."

"A little jumpy aren't we?

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to be there when I stood up."

"What time do you finish work?"

"About five minutes." She looked over at Dwayne, Marko and Paul who were admiring dragon statues that had different coloured crystal balls in them. Paul wolf-whistled as an attractive girl walked past him. Dwayne and Marko snickered.

"Get them out of here! My manager will have kittens!"

"See you outside in a few minutes then." His eyes bore into hers for a few moments, before he turned and left the store, the boys following him. Dwayne caught her eye on the way out and smiled. If Zaskia had had any thought of trying to avoid them tonight, it had been squashed. Paul winked at the girl, making a kissing sound. The girl rolled her eyes and turned away in disgust. Zaskia let out a breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding. She quickly finished arranging the front counter, then ducked out the back to collect her bag.

"Who was that?" Arielle asked as she was about to head out.

"Who?" Zaskia knew who Arielle meant but was stalling for time, not quite sure what to tell her.

"The guy at the front counter a minute ago?"

"Just a friend," she replied.

"You know I would never interfere in either yours or Karli's personal lives, but I sort of feel like the mother hen here so I just want to say…be careful. I've seen those guys on the boardwalk before. They're trouble. If they're friends of yours, that's your decision, but I'd appreciate it if they didn't come into the store. They scare the customers."

Zaskia nodded. "OK. I'll let them know to wait outside for me in the future. I don't think they're as bad as everyone thinks. A little devious maybe. They're just young and want to have fun."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow."

"OK, bye."

Zaskia knew Arielle didn't agree with her, though she turned back anyway. "Arielle?"

Arielle looked up from the stock she was shelving.

"Thanks for looking out for me."

Arielle smiled. "Any time."

Zaskia walked out to find David and co waiting for her, casually leaning against their bikes. Paul and Marko were making fun of people that were walking past while Dwayne stood silently, appearing to brood about something.

"Well, well. She came back after all," David said as he put his arm around her.

"Didn't really give me a choice there, did you?" Zaskia said, shrinking slightly.

The other boys hopped on their bikes and revved their engines.

"Hey, that's nice," Dwayne said, pointing to her belly.

"Thanks, I got it done today."

David inspected her belly. "Very sexy. It goes with you," he whispered in her ear.

Zaskia blushed. As she moved to climb onto the back of his bike, she realised it was going to be a little more difficult tonight as she had a long skirt on. She hiked it up, bunching it in her lap, showing off long, toned legs. Zaskia glanced up to see three sets of eyes on her, sly grins on their faces.

"Oh, grow up guys!" she said, rolling her eyes.

"So, we gonna go down to the beach and drink some beers or what?" Paul asked impatiently.

"Beers it is. Let's ride boys!" David announced.


	4. Chapter 4

The gang headed down to the quieter part of the beach, finding an abandoned fire drum and made themselves comfortable on the sand. David handed Zaskia a beer, which she took gratefully, even though she didn't really like beer all that much. At that moment, anything would've been good.

"So Zaskia, how long have you been in Santa Carla?" Marko asked.

"About three months."

"What made you decide to move here?" Paul wanted to know.

Zaskia was silent for a few moments before she answered. "You remember that big earthquake that hit a few months ago?"

They nodded.

"Well, I came home that afternoon to find a pile of rubble where my house used to be. Both my parents were killed," she finished quietly. "Anyway, my best friend suggested that after a month of me not coping, we should move somewhere together and start fresh. I'd always wanted to visit Santa Carla and I used to talk about it quite a bit. Sophie made some enquiries and before I knew it, she, my boyfriend Connor and I had moved into a three-bedroom place just five minutes from the boardwalk. I still have days when it's really hard. I mean, not a day goes past when I don't think about them."

"Wow, that sucks," Marko said.

"Wait for it; here's the kicker. I came home last night to find the two that were supposed to be helping me get my life back in order screwing each other."

"Asshole," Paul said.

"Bitch," Dwayne muttered.

It was the first time Zaskia had heard him speak. "So yeah, now I have no parents, no boyfriend and no best friend. Cool huh? Sometimes I wished I'd stayed in San Jose. At least I knew people there," she said, taking a large gulp of beer.

"Would you go back?" Marko pressed.

"No. A couple of months ago I would've, but I like it here. Santa Carla is my home now."

"Good. Besides, you have us now." David said, lighting a cigarette.

"Yeah," the others agreed.

It was nice to know she still had people that wanted to be with her. Zaskia downed the last of her beer in one gulp, causing her head to spin slightly, but she didn't care. She was just going to have fun and enjoy herself with her new friends. They were a little on the strange side, but no more than anyone else in Santa Carla. David puzzled her though. He always seemed as though he were hiding something.

Paul handed her another beer, which led to a chinking of bottles between all and each sculling a large mouthful. Paul coughed and spluttered beer everywhere, which sent the rest into bursts of laughter.

"What's wrong, Paul? Beer too strong?" Zaskia teased.

"Yeah, maybe we should get you a cocktail instead," Marko said with a laugh and gave him a brotherly shove. Paul shoved him back, which almost started an all-out brawl.

An hour or so later, David jumped up. "The boys and I gotta go and take care of some stuff, so how about we meet you back on the boardwalk in half an hour?"

Zaskia furrowed her brow. "Uh…OK. Why?"

"Guy stuff."

"Guy stuff? You follow me around, wanting me to be hang out with your 'gang' or whatever this is and now suddenly you want to go and do 'guy stuff'?"

"It's not like that, Zaskia," Marko offered.

"Then what is it like? You want me to be a part of this when it suits you, otherwise it's just 'Go amuse yourself while we go off and be men and we'll come back for you when we're ready. Well you can stick that!"

"Zaskia, you don't understand …" David began.

"Damn right I don't! Whatever, I'm out." She turned and headed down the beach in exasperation, knowing her reaction was a bit extreme, though considering what had just happened, her nerves were somewhat frayed.

"Zaskia wait!" David called, running after her, standing in her path.

"What?" she said, folding her arms across her chest.

David's usually hard face softened a little. "We do want you with us. There's just…things that we always do that only the four of us do. It's nothing personal."

Zaskia noticed he looked genuinely disappointed that she would walk away. She didn't know why she was so desperate to give him a chance. Probably because they were all she had left.

"Alright David."

He smiled. "See you soon."

Zaskia headed back to the boardwalk and wandered around, waiting for David and the boys to return. She really liked all of them but why all the secrecy? Zaskia resigned herself to the fact that she would probably find out eventually.

She stopped and looked at one of the jewellery stands, thinking she might buy a new choker. One jumped out at her; black velvet that had small deep green rhinestones set into it that matched her belly ring perfectly. Zaskia removed her old necklace and put on the new one. As she was admiring her purchase in the mirror, she noticed a familiar figure walk up behind her.

"It looks good on you."

She turned around to find Connor standing in front of her, eyes remorseful. For the first time in two nights, Zaskia didn't walk away from him.

"What do you want, Connor?" she asked quietly.

He made a move toward her, but she backed away.

"I just want to talk to you."

Zaskia shrugged her shoulders. "So talk."

"Can we go somewhere a little more private?"

Not answering him, Zaskia turned and walked towards a quieter part of the boardwalk and folded her arms across her chest.

"Zas…I am so sorry I hurt you. I feel awful about what happened."

Zaskia stared at him. "Yeah, sure you do. I have one word for you Connor. Why?"

Connor looked down at his shoes and shifted nervously. "I was an idiot. I really want to try and work this out. I don't want it to ruin our entire relationship."

"You don't want this to ruin our relationship? You screw my best friend, but you don't want this to _ruin_ our relationship? As far as I'm concerned, there _is_ no relationship anymore. With either of you. I just don't get it Connor. All I keep asking myself is why? What did I do?"

He tried to take her hand, but she snatched it away.

"Just tell me the truth."

Silence.

"For someone that wanted to talk, you haven't got a lot to say!"

He shrugged his shoulders and looked up at her. "I don't know what else to say except I am _truly_ sorry. We were both pretty drunk at the time and..."

Zaskia fought back tears, her lip trembling. "Connor, I heard you two arguing yesterday morning about how 'you should've said something' and 'you weren't expecting me to come home early'. I don't know, but that kinda tells me that something had been going on before last night."

She saw the panic cross Connor's face.

"You didn't think I heard that, did you? So, you just lied to me again. I mean, for frick's sake, you're standing here supposedly trying to apologise, yet you're still lying to me! And here I was thinking we had something…"

"We do Zaskia…"

"No, _we_ don't anymore. It's over Connor. You're pathetic." Zaskia turned to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm.

"Let me go Connor. It's over. I'm going to pack my stuff and find somewhere else to live as soon as I can. I don't want to be involved with or around either of you." She tried to leave again, however he tightened his grip on her arm.

"Don't make this any harder than it is."

He shook his head. "I'm not ready to let you go, Zaskia."

"Oh really? Well, you might've thought about before you decided to sleep around!" She moved to leave again, and again Connor resisted.

"Zaskia, come on, don't do this. Please."

"I am _not_ going _anywhere_ with you. Read my lips Connor. It. Is. Over. Finished. And don't beg, it isn't a good look. My friends will be back soon. I suggest you let me go before they get here. They're not the kind of people you want to piss off."

"What friends?"

"I've moved on, Connor. Making new friends here. Can't rely on my old ones, can I?"

Suddenly, a roar of engines and bright lights surrounded them, shining into their faces.

"Everything OK, Zaskia?" came a voice, which she recognised as Dwayne's.

"Fine, Dwayne. My friend here was just leaving."

"Not without you," he whispered in her ear. Neither of them moved for a few seconds.

"Let her go Connor," David said calmly.

Connor furrowed his brow in confusion. "Hey, how the fuck do you know my name man?"

David emitted a low, evil laugh. "I know a lot about a lot of people. Now let her go and no one will get hurt."

"Well, you don't waste time do you Zaskia!"

"Oh get over yourself."

"Ohhh, so this is what you've been doing for the last couple of nights. Hangin' out with the local boardwalk trash. Classy, Zaskia."

Paul moved to hop off his bike and pound the guy, but David signalled to him not to.

"Connor, I'm going to ask you nicely one more time to let her go." David stared hard at him, his eyes warning him not to go too far.

"Trust me Connor, you don't want to piss him off," Zaskia warned.

Connor made no attempt to let her go, so Zaskia took things into her own hands, knowing David would hurt him a lot more than she would. She manoeuvred out of his grip and pinned him to the ground. Connor coughed, as the wind was knocked out of him. He looked up at her, eyes wide. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Zaskia finally spoke.

"Goodbye Connor," she said quietly, and with that pulled herself off him and climbed onto the back of David's bike.

The boys all nodded in admiration and sneered at Connor, before they all laughed and whooped and zoomed off down the boardwalk.


	5. Chapter 5

Zaskia took a deep breath. Putting Connor down like that, while satisfying, had hurt her more than she'd let him see. It was difficult trying to come to terms with the fact that the man she had loved for the past two years had betrayed and hurt her the way he had. Connor had not denied her accusation that he and Sophie had been with each other more than once, which meant that David had told her the truth. Zaskia felt so alone then. Her parents were dead so she couldn't go back to them for comfort and rejuvenation; the two she had moved here with were no longer an option; she wasn't that close to her workmates which left the boys she had met last night. They were her only solace and her only friends. She hadn't really made that many friends in Santa Carla as she had always hung out with Connor and Sophie. Zaskia tightened her grip around David's waist and leant her head on his back. Tears of self-pity trickled down her cheeks.

"David, can you stop please?" she yelled at him over the noise of the engines.

"We're almost there. Just hang on," he yelled back.

"Stop the damn bike now!"

As soon as he'd stopped, Zaskia jumped off and ran ahead of them.

"Zaskia!" David called after her.

She didn't respond. About ten feet away, she'd stopped and hung her head, her whole body wracking with sobs.

Slowly, David got off his bike and walked over to her, putting one hand on her back. Zaskia felt his touch and turned around then threw her arms around his waist and cried harder into his chest. She knew he wasn't the emotional type, the way his arms held her and he awkwardly stroked her ponytail, though, at that moment, she didn't care.

"I'm sorry, I just feel really alone and lost right now and that I've got no one left."

"That's not true," David replied.

Zaskia withdrew from him slightly and looked up. "You're the only one I trust, David. You've been totally honest from the beginning and have never lied to me, even about things that I thought couldn't be true. I really hate them you know. I've never hated anyone in my life, but I hate them. I hope they get what's coming to them." Zaskia hugged him again.

David uttered a small laugh. "Zaskia, where did you learn how to pin a guy to the ground like that?"

She looked up at him again, giving him a small smile. "I'm a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Connor had obviously forgotten that."

"That was amazing. I mean, no offense, but to watch a girl put a guy down like that. It was pretty awesome. I'll just have to make sure I don't piss you off."

"Look, I'm so tired David, I think I might just go home."

David shook his head. "No, I don't want him anywhere near you."

"But I have nowhere else to go."

"Stay with us."

Zaskia mulled this over, though it needed little thought.

"What is this place?" she asked as they entered the cave.

"This was the hottest resort in Santa Carla about eighty years ago. In 1906, when the big one hit San Francisco, the ground opened and this place took a header into the crack. And now it's ours."

Zaskia looked around in awe _._ It still had the reception desk standing intact, which the boys seemed to use as a playground. A ghetto blaster, bottles of beer and cartons of food littered the top. The lighting was dim, the source being big drums that Dwayne lit with a large stick of fire. It was quite chilly and the sudden temperature change made her shiver.

"You'll be safe here," David said, showing her to the bed where she'd sleep. "You OK?"

Zaskia nodded. "I'll be OK. I just need to sleep."

David nodded, then he and the boys left her and went back out into the night.

An hour later, despite being tired, Zaskia was still awake. Her body was exhausted and her eyes were tired and sore from crying, yet her mind was still reeling from the night's torment and refused to rest. Not able to lie still any longer, she got up and headed out of the cave, wondering when the boys would be back. She walked mindlessly along the top of the bluff to the farthest point, slumping her body over the railing. Why can't all this pain just go away, she thought angrily? She felt so empty inside, a huge void within her that Connor and Sophie had left behind. Tears spilled down her cheeks for the second time that night. Zaskia looked down at the thunderous waves below her, making her head spin.

Almost in a trance-like state, she hoisted herself over the railing, facing the full moon that still dominated the night sky. Her breathing was now rapid and shallow. The waves below taunted her, willing her to let go, but her hands were not on the same wavelength as her mind.

"Zaskia, what're you doing?" came the quiet sound of a familiar voice.

Zaskia closed her eyes, angry she had been caught. "Please David, just let me be," she replied hoarsely.

"No, I'm not gonna let you do this." David slowly moved toward her. "Please turn around. Give me your hand." Zaskia hesitated for a moment, however she decided to at least give him the courtesy of saying goodbye to his face. As David reached her, she slowly turned around, tightly gripping the railing for support and meeting his worried face.

"There. That wasn't so hard." He gave her a half smile. "Give me your hand Zaskia."

No response.

David tried again. "Come on, it's OK, just give me your hand."

Zaskia swallowed hard. "I don't want this anymore, David. I don't want this life. I don't want this pain. I just want to be free of it all," she whimpered.

"Zaskia, I can take the pain away. I promise, I can make it all go away if you want me to."

She gave him a half smile. "Don't make promises you can't keep David."

Zaskia looked at him for a few moments, watching his eyes beg her silently, before smiling and letting go, hurtling backwards towards the crashing waves below.

The only sound was David's bloodcurdling scream.


End file.
